2 replies to this topic

[Captacha]

I'm going to be learning Java soon, so I was wondering about the parameters for functions. In C++ I always used pointer when I wanted to directly affect a variable or object from a function. I've heard Java doesn't have pointers, so how will I be able to do this?

[Chris_F]

In Java, all objects are references and exist on the heap. You don't have the choice of constructing objects on the stack or on the heap as you do with C++. If you want to actually perform a deep copy of an object rather than simply creating a secondary reference to it, you have to explicitly clone the object. Also keep in mind that when you pass an object to a function, the reference is passed by value.

[SeiryuEnder]

Read this for a full explanation.

I'm not a Java guru, but the general idea is that it implicitly passes a reference to an object, and the args are pointers to the input.

-edit
Beaten to the punch, it would seem.